The present invention relates to a mechanism for opening/closing and supporting a cover, which is suitably used for opening and closing an opening of a receptacle used in a vehicle such as a storage compartment, a cup holder or the like, and in particular, to a two shaft type opening and closing mechanism for a container with a cover, which can be easily attached to the container or receptacle and the cover.
Conventionally, receptacles such as cup holders, storage compartments, and the like have been set at a center console or the like in a vehicle. A cover for opening and closing the opening of the receptacle is provided at the receptacle.
In the cover provided at the receptacle, generally, one edge portion thereof is pivotally attached to one edge portion of a receptacle main body, such that the cover opens and closes in a flap-like manner. Thus, it is required to provide a space above the receptacle main body which corresponds to the locus of pivoting of the distal end of the cover, accompanied by the opening and closing of the cover. Further, it is required to provide a space at one end side of the receptacle main body for the cover to be positioned at the time when the cover is in a completely open state with respect to the receptacle main body. Thus, it has not been easy to ensure the space for setting the conventional receptacle having a cover within a vehicle where space is limited.
In order to overcome this drawback, the mechanism for opening/closing a cover which is illustrated in FIG. 5 was proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 8-156698). As shown in FIG. 5, a pivoting member 2 is pivotally supported at a pivot shaft 11 which projects at an outer side surface of a receptacle main body 1. A guide hole 12, which is formed in a circular-arc shape along the locus of pivoting of the pivoting member 2, and a forked-off hole 13, which is branched outwardly from the guide hole 12, are formed in the side surface of the receptacle main body 1. First slide shafts 31 are provided at both side portions of a cover 3 (only one side portion is shown in FIG. 5), and each shaft 31 is inserted through the guide hole 12 from the inner side of the receptacle main body 1 and is pivotally attached to the pivoting member 2. Further, at both side portions of the cover 3 (only one side portion is shown in FIG. 5), second slide shafts 32 are arranged parallel to the first slide shaft 31, and each shaft 32 is inserted through the guide hole 12 from the inner side of the receptacle main body 1 and is inserted into a cut-in groove 21 formed in the pivoting member 2. The cover 3 is urged by a torsion spring s which is attached between the second slide shaft 32 and a projection 14 provided between the guide hole 12 and the pivot shaft 11.
Operations of opening and closing the cover 3 by the opening/closing mechanism are shown in FIGS. 6A through 6D.
In a closed state in which the opening of the receptacle main body 1 is closed by the cover 3, as shown in FIG. 6A, the first slide shaft 31 is positioned at one end (the upper left end in the figure) of the guide hole 12, and the second slide shaft 32 is positioned at the distal end portion of the branched hole 13. In this state, the cover 3 is urged in the closing direction by the torsion spring s (not shown in the figures), such that the closed state is maintained.
When the cover 3 is pivoted from this closed state in the opening direction (toward the upper right in the figures) against the urging force of the torsion spring s, as shown in FIG. 6B, first, the cover 3 pivots around the first slide shaft 31, and the second slide shaft 32 enters into the guide hole 12 from the distal end portion of the branched hole 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, the first slide shaft 31 and the second slide shaft 32 move within the guide hole 12 toward the other end side thereof (the lower right side in the figures), the pivoting member 2 pivots around the pivot shaft 11, and the cover 3 pivots around the pivot shaft 11 in the direction of opening. As shown in FIG. 6D, when the second slide shaft 32 abuts against the other end of the guide hole 12, the cover 3 reaches the limit, and the opening of the receptacle main body 1 is opened. In this case, at the time of the operations from FIGS. 6B through FIG. 6D, the urging force of the torsion spring s works in a direction of pivoting the cover 3 in the opening direction. Due to this urging force, the cover 3 pivots automatically, and is maintained in the completely open state shown in FIG. 6D.
Further, when the cover 3 is to be closed from the open state of FIG. 6D, by pivoting the cover 3 in the closing direction (toward the upper left in the figures) against the urging force of the torsion spring s, as shown in FIG. 6C, first, the first slide shaft 31 and the second slide shaft 32 move along the guide hole 12 toward the one end thereof, the pivoting member 2 pivots around the pivot shaft 11, and the cover 3 pivots around the pivot shaft 11. When the first slide shaft 31 reaches the one end of the guide hole 12 as shown in FIG. 6B, as shown in FIG. 6A, the second slide shaft 32 enters into the branched hole 13 from the guide hole 12 and moves toward the distal end of the branched hole 13, and the cover 3 pivots around the first slide shaft 31 such that the opening of the receptacle main body 1 is closed. In this case, at the time of the operations from FIGS. 6B to FIG. 6A, the urging force of the torsion spring s is applied in the direction of pivoting the cover 3 in the closing direction. Due to this urging force, the cover 3 automatically pivots, and the closed state shown in FIG. 6A is maintained.
In this way, the mechanism for opening/closing a cover operates such that, by using two shafts which are the first slide shaft 31 and the pivot shaft 11 as the pivot shafts for pivoting the cover 3, the space required for opening and closing the cover 3 is small, and the space for providing the receptacle within the vehicle can easily be ensured.
However, in this mechanism for opening/closing the cover, in order to carry out the operation of pivoting the cover 3 around the first slide shaft 31 and the pivot shaft 11 on a predetermined locus, the guide hole 12 must be formed in the side surface of the receptacle main body 1 and the second slide shaft 32 must be provided on the cover 3. Further, because of the structure in which the first and second slide shafts 31, 32 are formed separately from the cover 3, the number of structural parts is large and the operations for assembling the respective parts are complex.
Further, the operations for assembling the parts are complex. For example, after the first and second slide shafts 31, 32 provided at the cover have been inserted into the guide hole 12 from the inner side of the receptacle main body 1, the first and second slide shafts 31, 32 must be pivotally attached to the pivoting member 2, and the first and second slide shafts 31, 32 must be inserted into the cut-in groove 21 provided at the pivoting member 2 and the cover 3 must be assembled to the pivoting member 2.
Moreover, there is a need to reduce the operation load at the time of the opening and closing operations of the cover 3, which is caused by the great friction generated between the second slide shaft 32 and the guide hole 12. Thus, grease for lubrication must be applied to the second slide shaft 32 or to the inner peripheral surface of the guide hole 12 to reduce the frictional resistance therebetween. Thus, there is a problem that this makes the work for assembling the cover 3 to the receptacle main body 1 complex.
In view of the aforementioned problems, an object of the present invention is to facilitate the assembly work of a cover to a receptacle main body, in a two-shaft pivoting-type mechanism for opening/closing the cover.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mechanism for opening/closing and supporting, i.e. opening and closing, a cover. The mechanism pivotally supports the cover to a body to be opened and closed, such as a receptacle, and is a two-shaft type mechanism for opening and closing the cover, wherein a pivoting member is pivotally attached to the body to be opened and closed, the cover is pivotally supported at the pivoting member, the pivoting member and the cover are pivoted around a first pivot shaft which connects the pivoting member and the body to be opened and closed, and the cover is pivoted with respect to the pivoting member around a second pivot shaft which is pivotally supported between the pivoting member and the cover, such that the cover is opened and closed. The second pivot shaft projects integrally from one of the pivoting member and a connecting piece formed at the cover, an attachment hole which supports the second pivot shaft is formed in the other of the pivoting member and the connecting piece, both members are pivotally connected, a pivoting limiting portion is provided between both members and limits pivoting operation of both members to a predetermined angular range, the first pivot shaft projects integrally from one of the pivoting member and the body to be opened and closed, an attachment hole which supports the first pivot shaft is formed in the other of the pivoting member and the body to be opened and closed, and both members are pivotally connected.
In the mechanism for opening and closing the cover, by pivoting the cover in the opening direction from the closed state in which the body is closed by the cover, the cover pivots around the second pivot shaft. When the cover is pivoted by a predetermined angle, the pivoting of the cover around the second pivot shaft is stopped due to operation of the pivoting limiting portion. Thereafter, the cover pivots together with the pivoting member around the first pivot shaft, and the top surface opening of the body is opened. By pivoting the cover in the closing direction from this open state, the cover together with the pivoting member pivots around the first pivot shaft. Thereafter, the cover pivots around the second pivot shaft away from the first pivot shaft, and closes the top surface opening of the body. By pivoting the cover around the first and second pivot shafts, the space required for the pivoting movement of the cover is small, and it is easy to ensure a sufficient space for setting the body.
The assembling of the cover to the body by the mechanism for opening and closing the cover is carried out as follows. The second pivot shaft, which projects integrally from one of the pivoting member and the connecting piece of the cover, is inserted into the attachment hole formed in the other of the pivoting member and the connecting piece, and the cover and the pivoting member are pivotally connected. The first pivot shaft, which projects integrally from one of the pivoting member and the body, is inserted into the attachment hole formed in the other of the pivoting member and the body, and the pivoting member and the body are pivotally connected. In this way, the cover is attached to the body, so as to be pivotable around the first and second pivot shafts.
The second pivot shaft projects integrally from one of the connecting piece of the cover and the pivoting member. The first pivot shaft projects integrally from one of the pivoting member and the body. Thus, there is no specific work for attaching the first and second pivot shafts to the respective members, and the work for attaching the members can be carried out easily.
Further, one of the second pivot shaft and the attachment hole may be provided at both side surfaces of the connecting piece of the cover, and the other of the second pivot shaft and the attachment hole may be provided at a pair of plate-shaped bodies formed at the pivoting member, and one of the first pivot shaft and the attachment hole may be provided at the pivoting member, and the other of the first pivot shaft and the attachment hole may be provided at a pair of wall portions formed at the body.
In accordance with this structure, the connecting piece of the cover is inserted between the pair of plate-shaped bodies of the pivoting member, the connecting piece is nipped from both side surfaces thereof by the plate-shaped bodies, and the second pivot shaft is inserted into the attachment hole. In this way, the pivoting member is pivotally attached to the cover so as to be pivotable around the second pivot shaft. Further, the pivoting member is inserted between the pair of wall portions of the body, and the first pivot shaft is inserted into the attachment hole. In this way, the pivoting member is pivotally attached to the body so as to be pivotable around the first pivot shaft. Thus, by the simple operations of inserting one of the connecting piece of the cover and the pivoting member between the plate-shaped bodies which are provided at the other of the connecting piece of the cover and the pivoting member, and inserting the pivoting member between the pair of wall portions of the body, the cover can be pivotally attached to the body so as to be pivotable around the first and second pivot shafts. Accordingly, the work for attaching the cover to the body can easily be carried out. In particular, in the case of setting a receptacle at a place where the setting work is difficult, such as the center console or the like in a vehicle, after the pivoting member is attached in advance to the cover, the pivoting member can be attached to the receptacle main body, and the work for setting the receptacle can be carried out easily.
Moreover, the pivoting limiting portion may limit pivoting operation of both members around the second pivot shaft to a predetermined angular range, due to portions of the cover and the pivoting member abutting against each another.
In accordance with this structure, when the cover is pivoted by a predetermined angle around the second pivot shaft, a portion of the cover abuts against a portion of the pivoting member. The pivoting of the cover around the second pivot shaft is thereby stopped. Thereafter, the cover, together with the pivoting member, pivots around the first pivot shaft. In this way, due to the respective portions of the cover and the pivoting member abutting against each another, the center of pivoting of the cover moves from the second pivot shaft to the first pivot shaft. Thus, even if the support shaft and the guide hole are not provided at the cover and the body, the cover pivots on a predetermined locus, and the number of structural parts can thereby be kept low.
Further, the mechanism for opening and closing the cover may include urging means structured so as to urge the pivoting operation of the cover with respect to a predetermined angle at the time of opening and closing the cover. In accordance with this structure, due to the urging force of the urging means, the position of the cover with respect to the body in the open state and in the closed state can be maintained, and rattling of the cover with respect to the body can be prevented. Moreover, after the cover has been pivoted for the predetermined angle, the cover automatically pivots to the completely open or completely closed state due to the urging force of the urging means. Thus, the operations of opening and closing the cover can be carried out easily.
Moreover, the first pivot shaft may be formed from a cylindrical body which has a short axis and is formed so as to pivot while an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body slides along an inner peripheral surface of the attachment hole. In accordance with this structure, by making the diameter of the attachment hole large, the surface area of contact between the attachment hole and the first pivot shaft can be made to be large. Accordingly, the load applied to the first pivot shaft at the time of opening and closing the cover is received over a wide surface area, and breakage of the attachment hole and the first pivot shaft can be prevented.